Filler wire supply means



April 8 1941- H. M. STEUER FILLER WIRE SUPPLY MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Nov. '7, 1958 .April 8, 1941. M STEUER 2,237,375

FILLER WIRE SUPPLY MEANS Patented Apr. 8, 1941 FILLER TRE SUPPLY MEANS Harry M. Steuer, Chicago, Ill., assigner to Borg- Warner Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application November 7, 1938, Serial No. 239,242

3 Claims.

This invention pertains to a wire screen weaving machine adapted to weave screen composed of a plurality of longitudinally extending warp wires and a plurality of successive ller wires of elongated cross-section therebetween and disposed with their major surfaces at a predetermined angle to the plane of the screen and relates particularly to a rolling mill assembly forming part of such a weaving machine for supplying said filler wires to the weaving head.

One practice attempted prior to my invention was to employ pre-formed at filler wire. This wire Was procured from a wire manufacturer who supplied the same in large rolls. This practice was found to be completely unsatisfactory for a number of reasons including the fact that it was practically impossible for a Wire fabricator to prepare a spool of ribbon or flat wire that would meet the required specifications and to supply the same in perfect condition, since handling, for example, would cause sufficient distortion in these ribbons to prevent their satisfactory injection into the guide of the Weaving head, which necessarily has very small clearances. A further and even more diiiicult problem encountered in following this practice, was the delivery of the at wire from the spools to the guide in the Weaving head, due to the fact that the roll of flat wire had to be stopped and started each time a filler wire was injected into the weaving head guide.

Another practice prior to my invention was to employ a cumbersome and unwieldy arrangement of rotating reels for supplying round wire to flattening rolls adjacent the weaving head, which arrangement required numerous control mechanisms including means to start and stop the reels each time the iiattening rolls were oper ated. The large inertia involved in starting and stopping these supply reels resulted in numerous diiiiculties requiring that the machine be shut down for repair.

It is an object of thisl invention to provide a simple and ecient arrangement for supplying round wire to the flattening rolls of a rolling mill particularly adapted to form filler wires of elongated cross-section and to inject the same into the `guide channel of the weaving head of a wire fabric weaving machine.

It is a further object of this invention to provide in the above combination, an improved stationary reel and guide arrangement for delivering round wire to the flattening rolls.

The above and other objects. advantages and uses of my invention, will become more apparent from a reading of the following specification and claims taken in connection with the appended drawings which form a part of this specification and wherein:

Fig. l is a plan view ci a wire weaving machine embodying a preferred form of my invention; Fig. 2 is a view in perspective showing a section of wire screen incorporating flat nil-er wires produced and inserted by my novel arrangement of mechanism;

Fig. 3 is an elevation partly in section showing my novel stationary reel and guide assembly for supplying round wire to the flattening and injecting rolls;

Fig. 4 is an elevation partly in vertical section substantially on the line d--li of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the reel and guide assembly shown in Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, particularly Fig. l., I have shown a weaving head indicated generally at iii and including a comb assembly indicated generally at l i, this comb assembly being formed with a channel-like guide passage i2 (indicated by a dotted line) effective to guidably receive in succession, filler wires i3 of elongated crosssection from a filler wire supply assembly indicated 0ener-ally at ifi, and to maintain the major surfaces ci ie filler wires at a predetermined angle to the plane of the screen, while a row of quills i5 are effective to move longitudinally eX- tending Warp wires It relative to the plane of the cloth, and twist the same for locking the ller wires in the screen.

In order to simplify the presentation of my invention, no eiiort will be made in the descriptien and drawings to bring out the exact details of the weaving head lll and the cam and lever operating means therefor, since per se this does not constitute part of my invention, and since a more complete understanding of these details may be readily had by reference to the copending application oi one Max l?. Heinze, Serial No. 239,257. It is deemed` suicient for the purposes of this disclosure to point out that shaft Il drives the `necessary cams rack or equivalent elements. (not shown) for eecting the rotation of the quills, while shaft i carriesl the necessary cams E@ andv 2i? for effecting the proper operation of the comb assembly indicated generally at H, all described in complete detail in the above contending application.

The filler wire supply assembly I4 for supply ing at filler wires i3 to the weaving head guide l2 comprises a pair of flattening and injecting rolls 22, which receive a round wire from a stationary reel and guide assembly, indicated generally at 23. The rolls 22 are driven at successive intervals through a free-wheeling clutch (not shown) by a rack 24 and hydraulic pistons 26 to cause rolls 22 to form and inject predetermined lengths of flat wire into the weaving head guide passage I2. Interposed between the discharge side of rolls 22 and the inlet end of guide passage I2 of weaving head I0 .is a shearing block and guide member 25 which is mounted on the stationary portion of the frame that supports the rolls 22. Subsequent to the formation and injection of a flat filler wire into the guide I2, the comb assembly is moved forward relative to shearing block 25 by the operation of cam I9 with the result that the wire is severed.

A suitable fluid pressure supply for driving piston 26 is placed under the control of a twoway valve 21, the position of which is in turn controlled by a cam 28 on shaft I8.

Referring now to my novel arrangement for supplying round wire to the above described attening rolls 22, I have provided a stationary rack or reel (Figs. 3 to 5) of a generally conical shape for receiving a loose roll 36 of round wire thereabout. Received about the rack 35 above the roll of wire, are one or more disc-like guide collars 31, the function of which is to guide the round wire away from the side of the stationary roll 36. Surrounding the rack 35 and spaced from the outer periphery of collar 31 and roll 36 is a cylinder 38, the function of which is to confine and control' the wire While the same is being drawn from the side of the stationary roll 36. The cylinder 38 is open at the outer end thereof and carries yoke members 39 attached thereto as by screws 4I. Mounted on the yoke members 39 is a rst guide member 42, preferably in the form of a tube of substantial radius to prevent the distorting or bending of the round Wire passing thereover when the rolls 22 jerk the wire in starting. Spaced from guide member 42 and likewise supported on yoke member 39 is a rod 43 carrying intermediate the ends thereof a loop 44 held adjacent guide member 42 and serving to confine the round wire to a predetermined portion of guide member 42. Guide member 42 is fastened to yoke members 39 by screws 45 in the ends thereof, while rod 43 is attached to yoke members 39 by nuts 46.

An additional guide 41 is preferably located adjacent the inlet side of the rolls for properly directing the wire thereto.

In the operation of the machine, the rolls 22 are successively rotated a predetermined number of times by rack 24 and piston 26 under the control of cam 28 and two-way valve 21 to form and inject a predetermined length of iiat wire into the guide I2 in the weaving head I0. The duills I3 are next rotated to twist the warp wires I6 together for locking the at filler wire in place, following which cam I9 on shaft I8 becomes eifective to move the comb assembly II forward relative to the Stationary shearing block 25 mounted adjacent the forming and injecting rolls` to thereby cut off the at filler wire adjacent the side of the screen,

It will thus be made to appear that when the rolls are started suddenly by the hydraulic piston 26 that the only inertia to be overcome so far as the wire supply itself is concerned, is the inertia of the small amount of wire leading from adjacent the side of the cloth to the stationary roll 36, including the amount of wire that is removed from the stationary roll. This is very negligible inertia to be overcome as compared with the old arrangement where the round Wire supporting reel was rotatable and it was necessary to start this reel each time the flattening and injecting rolls were operated. Likewise, the only inertia to be overcome in stopping the filler wire supply in addition to the inertia of the rolling mill, is the negligible inertia of the small portion of round and flat wire being moved, as compared to the old arrangement where the very heavy supply reel had to be stopped simultaneously with the stopping of the rolling mill rolls.

It will also be seen that I have provided a novel arrangement of means for supporting the stationary roll of round wire and guiding the same from the end of the roll to the flattening rolls.

While I have disclosed one specific embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the same may take other forms within the contemplation of my invention and that the same is defined more particularly by the appended claims which should be given a scope as broad as the prior art will permit.

I claim:

1, In a weaving machine for weaving wire screen composed of a plurality of warp wires extending lengthwise of the screen and a plurality of successive filler wires of elongated cross-section extending laterally across said cloth and between said warp wires, a weaving head including a guide means for successively guiding said fiat filler wires into position transversely of said warp wires, the combination therewith of a pair of iiattening and injecting rolls disposed adjacent said guide, a stationary reel and guide assembly adjacent said flattening and injecting rolls adapted to support a roll of round wire and providing for the same being fed from the end of said roll to said iiattening and injecting rolls, the same being effective to flatten said round wire and inject it into said guide means, and power means for successively rotating said rolls to produce flat ller wire and inject a predetermined length thereof into said guide.

2. In a weaving machine for weaving wire screen composed of a plurality of warp wires extending lengthwise of the screen, and a plurality l of filler wires of elongated cross-section extending laterally across said screen and held in place by said warp wires at a predetermined angle to the plane of the screen, said machine including a weaving head having guide means therein for guiding said at ller wires into position between said warp wires with the major dimension of said ller wires disposed at a` predetermined angle to the plane of the screen, the combination therewith of a pair of forming and injecting rolls disposed adjacent said guide, a stationary supply reel and guide assembly located adjacent said rolls and adapted to support a loose roll of round wire and to feed the same off the side of said loose roll and to said flattening and injecting rolls, guide means leading from the delivery side of said rolls to a point adjacent the inlet to said weaving head guide, said' guide means comprising a shearing device for cutting said iiat filler wire adjacent the side of said screen subsequent to its introduction into said guide means, and power means effective to rotate said rolls successively to produce ller wires of a predetermined length.

3. In a weaving machine for weaving wire screen composed of a plurality of warp wires extending lengthwise of the screen and a plurality of filler wires of elongated cross-section extending laterally across said screen and held in place by said warp Wires at a predetermined angle to the plane of the screen, said machine including a Weavingr head having guide means therein for guidably receiving a succession of at iiller wires in position between said Warp wires with the major surface of said ller Wires disposed at a predetermined angle to the plane of the screen, the combination therewith of means for fabricating and injecting said fiat iiller Wires as part of the weaving operation, said means comprising a 10 pair of attening rolls positioned adjacent the inlet end of said Weaving head guide, a stationary reel and guide assembly positioned adjacent said attening rolls and including a rack adapted to receive a loose roll of round Wire thereabout, an 15 arcuate-shaped guide member of substantial radius positioned adjacent the end of said rack, round wire positioned on said rack and having a free end, the free end of said Wire adapted to pass from the end of the roll over said guide and to the inlet side of said flattening rolls, a cylindrical member received about said rack and roll of round wire, said cylindrical member being effective to prevent the Wire from being thrown outwardly, While said guide of substantial radius is effective to prevent said wire being distorted, When said attening rolls operate to suddenly draw a predetermined length of wire from said stationary rolls.

HARRY M. STEUER, 

